This NEEP report (November 2020) is an update to a 2012 report entitled Greening the Public Sector, Maximizing Energy Efficiency. The original report provided recommendations and exemplars for how public sector buildings could achieve higher levels of energy efficiency. Some of the recommendations that remain relevant include reducing cost barriers for constructing energy-efficient buildings and schools, increasing workforce training and education, and establishing the goal of zero energy for all public buildings. However, while zero energy was considered a long-term goal for public sector buildings in 2012, it is now a proven performance target for many buildings today, the authors write. Their analysis sets out updated recommendations to help states implement strategies to rapidly decarbonize public sector buildings and demonstrate how building decarbonization can drive market transformations in the overall building sector.
Key words: energy management, building retrofits, zero net energy